FCC moves up Digital Deadline

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: June 9, 2005 1:52:08 PM EDT
To: Dave <dave () farber net>
Subject: FCC moves up Digital Deadline


http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050609/D8AK50QG0.html

FCC Speeds Up Digital TV Signal Deadlines

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Jun 9, 10:21 AM (ET)

By DAVID PACE

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators on Thursday moved up the deadlines
for manufacturers to make popular, mid-sized television sets capable of
receiving digital signals.

The next-generation technology provides sharper images and more
programming options.

The Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to require that all
medium-sized televisions, those with screens from 25 to 36 inches in
diameter, be capable of receiving both digital and traditional analog
signals by March 1, four months earlier than the commission had decreed
three years ago.

Regulators also retained a requirement that half of all new mid-size
televisions must have digital receiving capability by July 1.


The commission also proposed moving the deadline for all small TVs to
have digital tuners to the end of 2006, rather than the July 1, 2007,
deadline the regulators set in 2002. That proposals will be voted on
later after a period of public comment.

The lack of digital-capable television sets has been a major impediment
to Congress' tentative deadline of December 2006 to complete the
transition from traditional analog TV signals to digital. The 1997 law
setting that deadline permits it to be extended in any market until 85
percent of the homes have a digital TV.

"We need to push the transition to its conclusion as expeditiously as
possible, said Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy.

The Consumer Electronics Association and Consumer Electronics Retailers
Coalition argued that the transition to digital television has actually
been slowed by having a July 1 deadline for half the medium-sized TVs to
have digital capability.

They said retailers, expecting consumers to buy more non-digital
televisions because they're less expensive, have been ordering more of
those increasingly scare models from manufacturers and less of the more
expensive, digital-ready models.

Television manufacturers and retailers supported the petition, while
broadcasters opposed it. The National Association of Broadcasters said
eliminating the 50 percent requirement would delay the transition to
digital TV by guaranteeing the sale of more televisions that receive
only analog signals.




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